A conventional stand comprises a plurality of components or stand members articulating in pairs, whereby a base stand member is supported by an object like, for instance, a flooring or a wall, and a load is suspended by a final stand member. By shifting the stand members relative to each other using the links joining them, it is possible to shift the load with respect to the object.
One example for such a stand is represented by a stand of a microscopy system carrying a load in the form of a microscopy optic. Such a microscopy system can be used for surgical interventions, whereby the microscopy optic is suspended by the stand such that a surgeon can shift it relative to a patient practically without exerting any force, i.e. by applying only minor actuating forces. This requires that the torsional moments exerted on the stand members by the weight of the microscopy optic and the weight of the stand members themselves are, as far as possible, compensated by the stand in all possible swiveling positions of the stand members relative to each other. The stand should further be adapted to support different microscopy optics differing from each other with respect to its weight and its center of mass position. Attaching additional components like a camera or additional eyepieces may, for example, modify the weight and the center of mass of a microscopy optic. To allow a compensation of the torsional moments exerted on the stand members independent of the swiveling positions, the stand has to be adjusted to such modifications.
Examples of such stands are, for instance, known from DE 42 45 034 C2, DE 42 31 516 C2, EP 1 205 703 B1, EP 1 312 850 B1, U.S. Pat. No. 6,523,796 B2, and WO 2007/054327 A1.
It has been found that conventional stands are inadequate for an adaptation to modified load situations practically independent of the swiveling positions.